San Diego builds, One the easy way, one the hard way

[flynntuna]

The ceremony's at 3:30, guessing dinner's at 5 ish. Dancing till 10:00

[Frank818]

Are those Craig's larger hood louvers or FFR size?

[Mechie3]

Those are mine.

[STiPWRD]

Those photos look great, congrats! I'd be interested in the gauge plate if you're making anymore.

[matteo92065]

Those photos look great, congrats! I'd be interested in the gauge plate if you're making anymore.

I'll make some next week.

[matteo92065]

Sometimes I'm a bad mechanic.

I've been chasing this MAF sensor problem down, with no luck till now. During trouble shooting, I have replaced it, data logged it, cleaned it, tried to install it 180*(but couldn't), etc. I've been driving it around unplugged, and its been great.

Until now! It turns out that I installed my intake tube backwards. The sensor needed to be turned around. I don't have any experience with MAF sensors and how sensitive they are; till now. Runs like a champ now.

I just finished removing all my error codes (tgv's removed) using AccessPort Race software. Pretty easy job.

Did some wheel alignments.

Its getting so close to complete!
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[Frank818]

Sometimes I'm a bad mechanic.

But you are a great wiper designer. Not easy to fab the damn brackets to make it solid in place and precisely at the right place so it has enough tension on the glass and not too much so the arm/spring don't rub on the glass. My solution will look so cheap, but then again as long as it passes inspection, I don't care for the future since I won't be using it.


MAF sensors are usually very sensitive, yes.
I'm glad I deleted that part and am using other methods of control, even though I admit MAFs are normally precise to calculate the amount of air.

So you were driving the car to work without a good wheel alignment?

Why 2 computers?

[matteo92065]

But you are a great wiper designer. Not easy to fab the damn brackets to make it solid in place and precisely at the right place so it has enough tension on the glass and not too much so the arm/spring don't rub on the glass. My solution will look so cheap, but then again as long as it passes inspection, I don't care for the future since I won't be using it.


MAF sensors are usually very sensitive, yes.
I'm glad I deleted that part and am using other methods of control, even though I admit MAFs are normally precise to calculate the amount of air.

So you were driving the car to work without a good wheel alignment?

Why 2 computers?

Wheel alignment; It goes in stages for me. First I do it by eye, drive it a little, then I progressively put more time and effort into it. I am now getting it fine tuned and driving it in-between adjustments to feel the change.

2 computers; The AccessPort RACE only runs on a PC, so I have that. I am mostly a Mac guy at home, so I have that to reference the web while I program the AccessPort/ecu.

[matteo92065]

For the interior, the biggest deviation from the manual is leaving the tunnel open. My harness is fairly small, so I could tuck that up above the rails. It leaves a good place for the extinguisher for easy access for driver and passenger to reach. Its also under-lit at night.
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[NBinSD]

Looks great Matt! I like how the center console with the k-tuned came out. Are you using Wayne's (rear cable) k-tuned or FFR's?

[Frank818]

Wow, that 5th pic with the landscape in the background, NICE PLACE! I envy you a million times.

Are those the OEM hinges on the humps deck lid?

[Tamra]

That looks great!!

[matteo92065]

Thanks for kind comments!

I'm sitting at the CHP office trying to get VIN number assigned. It's been almost 2 hours now. Arrrg. image.jpg

[matteo92065]

Oh, and I'm in San Diego where it never rains, except for today. It's actually a heavy mist.
The mist hits the windshield, then travels up to the top of windshield frame, then falls down into car in big water drops. I have a wet area from mid dash to mid seats. Arrrg.

[flynntuna]

Yea, June gloom in July. We've had summers were the sun hardly ever showed. Natural air conditioning I guess

[Zodiac]

I've been working on wiring. and working. and working.

My goal was to do something between what the FFR manual says and what iWire would do. Doing it this way should be easier for me and others to troubleshoot, as all the Subaru wire colors and names are unchanged. So far I am very pleased with the results.

The biggest change to the harness was to remove the two large fuse panels. Then replace them with one of these fuse panels. Since most of what is on the original panels is no longer being used, I don't see the need of keeping them around and trying to place them.
I did keep the individual relays like B102, B103, B46, B47, B309 and the F27 relay block.

I'm down to 23 fuses/breakers, and 5 relays.

This is a picture of my panel with call outs.
Attachment 38388

This is shows more detail:
Attachment 38389

I'm looking to go back to my wiring in the near future maybe and want to really clean things up and basically make my own similar to iwire like you are. What size terminals did you use? I figured the 280 series since looks like nothing really goes over 30 amps. but if you have more insight on this subject that would help tremendously

[matteo92065]

I'm looking to go back to my wiring in the near future maybe and want to really clean things up and basically make my own similar to iwire like you are. What size terminals did you use? I figured the 280 series since looks like nothing really goes over 30 amps. but if you have more insight on this subject that would help tremendously

I believe I did use 280 series. I'm no expert on wiring, but mine works and I really like how it came out. For the most part I copied everything Subaru did. I used a fuse when they did, and used a circuit breaker when they did. I used all factory wires and sizes.

[matteo92065]

My night lights
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[matteo92065]

Here are some IR pictures I took tonight. Just after sunset, and I was not driving the car hard. I will take more when I have time. I want to figure out where the heat in the car is coming from and going.

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[Tamra]

That's neat! Can you lock the temp scale for the rear photo at a lower peak point? The exhaust overwhelms the rest of the picture.

Side note: I want your garage

[matteo92065]

That's neat! Can you lock the temp scale for the rear photo at a lower peak point? The exhaust overwhelms the rest of the picture.

Side note: I want your garage

yes, I can adjust the scale, and take off the crosshair. I was just short on time last night, but I've desperately wanted to get a few shots for sometime now.

Thanks we (mostly me) really like our garage and property.

[Mechie3]

Those IR photos are cool. I need to see if we have one here at work now too. Interesting to see that the heat on the hood louvers is more focused towards the back. Wonder if that's just because it's getting trapped past the louver or because of the airflow more air moves out through the back of the louver so the front never heats up as much.

[matteo92065]

... Wonder if that's just because it's getting trapped past the louver or because of the airflow more air moves out through the back of the louver so the front never heats up as much.

Thats exactly what I'm looking for. Where does the heat go and why. I more pictures I'll try to post soon.

Other quick observations, the passenger hump is much hotter than divers side. My small engine cover vents are not cut out, but they get warmer than surrounding material. My license plate vent is very warm. The coolant lines are heating the footwell corners by a significant amount..

[Frank818]

Damn I love San Diego.

[matteo92065]

All my aluminum bits and pieces are black anodized now.
The hood louvers look especially good now.
The Hood Hinge also looks much better, but I had to paint the cross piece for some extra POP!
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[matteo92065]

I installed some NRG seats this weekend.
MUCH better than the original 06 WRX seats. I cut the WRX seats all the way down to the factory sliders but still could not get them low enough. The new NRG seats are 2-3" lower, and slightly narrower. I have no problems with the quality of the NRG seats either. For about $250 delivered, they just can't be beat. I never weighed the seats, but the WRX are at least twice as heavy as the NRG seats. IIRC, NRG is advertised as ~30lbs each.
I also have some certified racing seats, but they are so narrow that several of my family and friends cant fit in them comfortably, so those will only be installed on track/autox days.

[matteo92065]

worked on the fuse box.
Finishing touch on the fuse box is the legend to call out what is inside. Here is a picture of it being laser engraved. I'll post pictures of final product later.
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[Mechie3]

Nice! I assume the laser is one of Victor's "toys"?

[matteo92065]

Nice! I assume the laser is one of Victor's "toys"?

It's not a Toy, it's a Tool! ;p

[matteo92065]

What if something happens on the road?

I've been venturing farther and farther from the nest with the 818. I feel the need to carry some tools with me.
So I put this together. Mostly HF cheap stuff, but I think I can take the whole car apart. It fits nicely behind the seat with no rattles.
tools.jpg

[Mechie3]

I used to do that in my WRX. It was modified enough that things sometimes went wrong. It was hilarious to watch me pull over, hop out, and in 5 minutes be back in the car speeding away.

[TouchStone]

Installing the hood hinge now. Its going quite well.

Zero Decibel Motorsports rocks!

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What fiberglass cloth and resin do you prefer?

[matteo92065]

What fiberglass cloth and resin do you prefer?

I use 6oz cloth and resin from fiberlay.com

[matteo92065]

All inspections are complete! All went smoothly for the most part.
The ONE BIG HICUP...
FFR had my frame stamped with its serial number, but the paper work did not EXACTLY match. It had one extra 0.
My bosses, 'the hard way', is the same way. The CHP caught it, only after I got my sequence number certificate that was created with a different number. This caused a lot of confusion and frustration. But it is finally done!

For anyone in San Diego, the place to go for Brake and Light Inspection is WAY down south off the 905. When you can see Mexico from the shop, you are in the right place. Dig this ==> Do ALL of your lights work? Do brakes, and e-brake, work with decent pad life left? Yes?, then you pass. ~$60, 10 minutes. That place rocked!

BAR was also very easy. Free, ~30 minutes, lots of pictures, quick PCV inspection, VIN inspection, and then entering stuff into the computer.

No inspection even looked, or asked about, my cool windshield wiper install! BOO.

I've put almost 2000 miles on the car now. i'm getting about 21/28mpg. My gas gauge likes to show near empty when I've used 6 gallons. I usually drive for 100 miles, then put 4 gallons in just to keep the gauge up. I have a 2006 NA Impreza transmission, and it does almost 3000 RPM at 70. I'm still chasing down rear fender noise and some rubbing on bumps. I think I'll put some dynomat (or similar) on the interior side of the fender sheet metal. Every time the tires pick up a little something from the road, it makes a lot of noise. I need a roof. But not a full soft top, and defiantly not a hard top. Just something to keep the sun off of me and the seats when I'm not in the car. The car will run at ~185F while moving, and ~205F in stop-and-go, with ambient around 78F. The AWIC will only heat soak ~+15F when stuck in heavy traffic, But will quickly drop to ambient after less than a minute of movement at decent speed. Its actually amazing how well an AWIC works. The air coming into the IC can be ~160F, and then in 10inches, it exits at ~90F!
Speaking of heat. There is a lot of heat coming into the cabin. It is always a warm ride. I know that I'm getting heat from engine area AND radiator area. I thought I did a pretty good job of sealing off the front of the car. The rear has all sorts of large gaps that let engine air circulate to cabin.
I'm really glad I took the time to put in the ABS. It will activate when I'm pushing the car hard, and in most cases I'm glad when it does its thing.
I still need to re-adjust the doors for a better fit, get a motor tune, fine tune body panels & gaps, hook up oil temp & pressure sending units, fix shaking rear view mirror, install trunk, finish interior trim, finish exterior details & graphics, install acusump, install rear Willwood brakes, get top motor vents from Craig when available, install stereo?, install new seat belts/harness, adjust shift linkage as going into first and fifth are a little tight compared to the rest of the gears, and take it on some local twisty roads.

Inspection station
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My new sticker
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Just another car at work
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[Mechie3]

Awesome!

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Congratulations Matteo.
Thanks for all the comments on your driving experience. It will give others things they can fix during their build.
My list is longer than yours.
Bob

[07FIREBLADE]

Nice. Now turn in your paperwork at the DMV and get your plates. I got mine on Wednesday. And I'm in the same boat as you need to take the time get all the small details finished up except I'm going hardtop route. My hiccup was at the state ref giving me grief for one of my forms not being filed out quite right but on call to Sacramento cleared it all up.

[Kurk818]

My CMO and vin plate were one "0" off as well. They made the paperwork match the frame stamping. Someone should give FFR a heads up.

[Tamra]

Congrats!

[matteo92065]

Thanks all!

I drove by the DMV this morning to turn in my papers. The line was around the building! I just read that 883,000 licenses have been issued to undocumented immigrants this year. DMV expects to give out 1.5 Million licenses by the end of the year.

Since the DMV did mess up some of my paperwork, a supervisor gave me her card and told me to go directly to her. No lines, no appointment! But I still don't want to wait 30 minutes just to get in the building.